Daily Archives: August 14, 2021

Virtual reality has been a common topic in film. But as technology has evolved, so has the way in which it is depicted.

Freeguy is the latest in a long line of films which discuss the concept of virtual reality to some degree. In fact virtual reality has been a very popular topic in film ever since the 1990s. It is one of those concepts which has not yet come to full realization in our real, actual lives (at least in terms of how it has traditionally been depicted in cinema), yet is intriguing enough to capture our attention on film. And just like the depiction of space travel in film before space travel itself became possible, it will be interesting to see how the film interpretations of virtual reality compare to the real thing if/when it becomes available.

Virtual reality is the idea of replacing a persons sensory inputs with those that are created artificially, such as by a computer. Certainly technology exists today which mimics virtual reality, but those devices dont fully replicate reality in terms of full sensory input. VR devices like Oculus Rift give you some sensation of entering an alternate reality, but you still maintain sensory connections with the real world. Real virtual reality wont be possible until you can physically leave your body behind and travel to a new place with only your mind/consciousness.

The initial ideas which would later lead to the concept of virtual reality were first discussed in the 1950s. Several inventors were looking for ways to enhance a persons experience when watching a film or viewing an image. At first they simply figured out ways to block out external stimulations headphones, helmets, even special booths you would use to watch films. As technology developed, these types of devices could become more sophisticated. With the advent of computers, companies began making flight simulators and driving simulators. Over time the technology became portable.

The advance of computers inspired the idea of a true virtual reality as we see most often in works of science fiction. In most of these cases a person is able to become fully immersed in a reality that was replicated by a computer. Video game manufacturers such as Atari began research programs to develop this technology for their products. Although this effort did lead to many technological breakthroughs, it still paled in comparison with what our minds could envision for the full potential of virtual reality.

Those ideas began showing up in literature in the early 60s. In film, the earliest example of what we recognize as virtual reality was discussed in the 1973 TV movie World on a Wire, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The film is based on a novel where a virtual reality is created for marketing purposes, to help companies simulate consumer appeal towards new products. A sophisticated supercomputer runs a simulation of reality, complete with characters who dont realize they are living in a virtual world.

The crux of the story is when strange events start to occur, and the main character begins to suspect that he is existing in a virtual reality. This idea of different layers of reality was certainly decades ahead of its time. It is fascinating to me how someone predicted the potential of computers to generate an artificial reality, especially given the rudimentary status of computers at that time.

This begins the idea of virtual reality being a tool which can be misused. As much as it can be a fun and interesting thing, it can also be used by powerful people to manipulate the weak. This is a very ground-breaking concept which later films like The Matrix would explore even further. And although it would take another 20 years before film caught on to this idea, it showcased the type of entertaining ideas which were possible with the concept of virtual reality.

Another early film mimicking virtual reality worth mentioning is 1982s Tron. In this film the character is pulled into a computer. But rather than experiencing an artificial reality, he experiences the reality of the inner workings of a computer. So, on one hand it really wasnt virtual reality as we would later think of it, but it was an important step in that direction. Most importantly, Tron reinforced the idea of virtual reality being perpetrated by a computer.

In many ways the visual production of Tron is what would ignite Hollywoods fascination with virtual reality in the 1990s. While Tron was ground-breaking for its time, it pales in comparison with what can be achieved today with computer animation compare it with the 2010 sequel Tron: Legacy. Still, the futuristic special effects in the 1982 film showcased the potential of film to be used as an aspect of virtual reality itself. By using special effects, film could create realities that were not possible in real life.

In fact, Tron was one of the first films to utilize 3-dimensional CGI. It was very rudimentary, but at that time there was nothing else like it. The lack of sophistication worked because at that time we associated a lack of realism with computers anyway. Companies like Pixar may have seen the potential of computers to eventually generate photo-realistic imagery, but the general public didnt yet see computers as being capable of tricking our minds into believing fake things are real. Over time that would change. Movies like Jurassic Park and The Matrix would be among the first films to change our perceptions of what computer-generated special effects could do.

Soon our perspective on special effects in film changed from looking at how closely special effects got to appearing real, to how far away they were. In the past we would praise a film for how close it got to mimicking reality. These days with sophisticated computers we criticize a film if it doesnt have perfectly photo-realistic special effects. In many ways, audiences now demand a virtual reality experience from their films. This change is thanks to the increased sophistication of computers and artistic/editing software over time.

Lawnmower Man was the next evolution of virtual reality in film. This version of the technology would more closely resemble the virtual reality which would be utilized heavily in the 1990s in films such as Virtuosity, Brainscan, eXistenz, and Arcade. In all these cases, virtual reality was depicted as not just a novelty, but a potentially deadly force of (human) nature. Many of these films tied in the contemporary interest of video games. They feature characters who were drawn into these virtual realities, and essentially trapped there. In many ways 1995s Jumanji could also be considered a movie that deals with a virtual reality.

Lawnmower Man, Virtuosity, and eXistenZ focused on virtual reality as an important technological development. The virtual reality in each of these films is developed for one reason, but it becomes mis-used or manipulated to benefit someone for a different reason. In all these cases there is a fear of the technology and its capabilities. Characters are often drawn in against their will, or at least without realizing what is happening to them. Very clearly there was a cautionary outlook towards the potential of virtual reality.

By the end of the 90s, concepts of virtual reality were becoming more advanced and multi-dimensional. Instead of characters being held captive by virtual reality itself, we would soon see nefarious entities utilizing virtual reality to capture or at least pacify their adversaries. In other words, virtual reality moved from being in essence a sentient entity or character by itself to becoming a tool utilized by characters in the film.

This is most easily seen in films like The Matrix or Vanilla Sky. In The Matrix, the majority of the human species is being held in a state of capacity by plugging our minds into a virtual reality simulation of the real world. In Vanilla Sky, the main character is placed in a state of suspension because of his deteriorating physical state, while his mind lives in a virtual reality to prevent him from dying.

Two other important films from this era which touch on aspects of virtual reality while giving the idea a unique twist are Total Recall, and Strange Days. In both of these films, the traditional idea of a character entering virtual reality is reversed. Instead of having them enter a computer-generated virtual reality, these films show how virtual reality can be placed into a persons mind. In Total Recall, this is done through memories. In Strange Days, people are able to have experiences that other people have recorded. In both cases, characters experience a false reality that is not necessarily generated by a computer as it would have in more traditional depictions of virtual reality.Inceptionis similar in that the virtual reality the characters travel to is someone elses dream.

Interestingly, films dealing with aspects of virtual reality after the mid 00s would explore this concept with a blend of ideas from the more traditional virtuality films of the 90s and those that had more novel approaches. Movies like Gamer, Enders Game, Spy Kids 3D: Game Over, and Ready Player One ran with the idea of virtual reality being tied into a video-game like experience. But at the same time those films approached the video-game aspect in a more modern way

Ready Player One especially showcases an updated prediction for where virtual reality could be headed, but with ideas added in such as MMO games, microtransactions, and an increased connection between real-life and video games. This is virtual reality commercialized in a manner that makes sense for 2020. Here, the technology itself is not necessarily dangerous it is about who is controlling the technology. We see the shift away from the potential of computers being this frightening thing we dont understand, to the fear of humanity misusing the technology they do understand.

Furthermore, its not even about an overreliance on technology anymore. In earlier films, characters become obsessed with the technology of virtual reality. They cant escape it because it grants them things they cant achieve in real life. In Ready Player One, almost the entire world is already obsessed with the technology. It has been absorbed into our culture. This shows the development of our real society over time. Everyone now has a computer in their pocket which can accomplish unfathomable things to a person from 1980. Ready Player One showcases how that infiltration of computers into our everyday life has changed our perspective of technology. We now have socioeconomic concerns relating to computers, rather than just technological concerns that stem from not fully comprehending its capabilities.

It may be many years before we can plug ourselves into a virtual-reality system like The OASIS in Ready Player One, but aspects of virtual reality have proliferated many different aspects of our everyday lives. It is important to consider the development of special effects in film as an aspect of creating a more realistic differentiation with our real lives. Certainly a person viewing a film is not going to confuse the events of a film with real life, but that doesnt mean filmmakers wont strive to make it seem as realistic as possible. Going further, consider the ways we utilize video/film as a method to document and monitor real life. Having technology to modify or alter those recordings convincingly suddenly has the capability to change perspectives of people who rely on those media. So even though it isnt virtual reality it is accomplishing the same goal by mimicking real life with the help of a computerized tool.

For many years, CGI-generated human characters in live action films or other film-media have lagged behind CGI-created effects in other areas. Because we are so familiar with our own anatomy, it is easier for us to spot a CGI-rendered human that isnt real. For many years this was one of the most complicated aspects of special effects. We could create entire cities out of CGI that looked as if we could step through the screen and inhabit them, and yet couldnt figure out how to de-age Robert De Niro in Scorseses latest gangster flick.

Right now we are on the cusp of breaking through that barrier. Already sophisticated deep-fake software can recreate any person in almost perfect visual detail. Well be able to resurrect dead people with perfect fidelity. Well be able to have an actor seamlessly portray a young child and an elderly man in the same film, and we wont be able to tell the actors real age. Well see gruesome violence in more shocking detail than is necessary, and it will be possible for A-list actors to depict the glory years of their youth onscreen for decades.

Motion capture has come a long way to help provide a realism to these CGI-characters. Each of those roles is an opportunity for computers to study the movement of the human body in order to replicate it on film more realistically. Eventually we will come to the point where a computer can visually simulate the body of a human perfectly without the need for an actor to wear a bright green suit with dots all over it. And once we are able to create the image of a person realistically in a simulated 3D environment, what is next? Voices, personalities? Will we have computers capable of creating extras or even entire main characters for use in film?

Virtual reality concepts have long interested us, and that is why they have found their way into so many of our films. While this fascination with escaping our own reality has transformed over time along with the technology utilized in our day-to-day lives, it still remains an aspect of science fiction rather than science fact. As our understanding of technology has improved, it has opened up new opportunities and questions which were not apparent before. We come to understand what is and is not a realistic concern regarding the application of virtual reality technology, and our films have changed their use of this concept accordingly. Yet, no matter how much our technology has developed, at least to me it still feels like the idea of a completely virtual reality is still a long way off. So although we may never get to enjoy the true benefit of this technology, at least we have film to show us what it could look like.

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The Evolution of Virtual Reality in Film - Cinelinx

The work-from-home boom has given several virtual reality (VR) companies incentive to experiment with new ways of trading.

While platforms are rapidly evolving and firms are putting themselves in a position to sell the new technology, it's not a big business yet but many believe it will be soon.

Glimpse Group is an umbrella company for several different VR businesses with real-world applications.The company went public last month and has eight VR groups in its portfolio, including telehealth, entertainment, and learning programs for schools and businesses.

They're also focused on stock trading through a business called D6 VR.It was developed by former Morgan Stanley analyst Andy Maggio who told CNBC in an interview, "I believe VR will be the most transformative technology in our lifetime."While Maggio admits the technology isn't quite ready for prime-time, he says the quality of the technology is rapidly improving."The resolution is double what it was five years ago, the hardware is moving forward very quickly, it's lighter and easier to use," he said.

While several financial firms have experimented with the technology, none are making plans to tear down their physical trading floors anytime soon.

Former hedge fund manager and Glimpse Group CEO Lyron Bentovim isn't surprised by the pace."Wall Street is slow to adapt, but this is the future of trading," he said.

Bentovim makes the argument that a trader can see usually six to eight screens at the most in the physical space."You're limited," he said.With VR you'll be able to see and interact with dozens of screens and layer data upon data."I can see a trader observing multiple trends and then immersing him or herself in the data without being constricted by physical limits," he said.

While Glimpse Group tries to make a name for itself in the space, it isn't the first to enter.FlexTrade, which specializes in creating software for financial companies, presented its first VR program for traders at a 2017 conference.

"Traders just don't have enough real estate on their desk,"said Managing Director Andy Mahoney. "We can do better than a keyboard, screen and a mouse."

FlexTrade's Andy Mahoney demonstrates augmented reality at a conference for financial professionals.

Courtesy: Flextrade

In test rounds, Mahoney found that full-scale VR made traders sick because it was too disorienting.With new enhancements, however, that's becoming less problematic.

FlexTrade's research and development team has been giving clients test runs on augmented reality which incorporates a suite of data, charts and information into a real-world setting so that users see things in both the real and virtual world at the same time.

"Clients love it, but they still don't think we're there yet but we will be soon," said Mahoney.

"The real advantage is the ability to visualize data in multiple dimensions," according to D6's Chief Technical Officer Brennan McTernan.

He believes there are three areas where VR is becoming more valuable to the financial industry.

The first is for traders, allowing them to break out of a physical space and customize data and research.The second is seeing data in 3D and being able to control for size and color, and for overlaying data on top of other data. The third, McTernan said, is that "financial advisors can tell clients a better story and help explain the data better with virtual reality."

Executives in the space admit it can be uncomfortable and disorienting to wear a headset for multiple hours at a time. But they also make the case VR allows the potential for clients and financial professionals to work free from distractions, at least for part of their day.

As far as adoption is concerned, the team at Glimpse is ready to be patient. CEO Bentovim said, "there was a time when nobody had a computer on their desk, then the tide turned very quickly."

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How virtual reality will change trading for pros and everyone else - CNBC

Virtual reality will be one of the key emerging technologies that can be deployed to help augment and improve access to healthcare, experts at HIMSS21 Digital said.

In a panel moderated by Michael Crawford, associate dean for strategy, outreach and innovation at Howard University, Brennan Spiegel, director of health services research at Cedars-Sinai Health System, and Megan Brydon, PACS applications specialist, diagnostic imaging, at IWK Health, discussed the mainstreaming of virtual reality, including the addition of gamification to increase engagement.

However, it was noted by both panelists that there is apprehension about adding yet another layer of tech to an overwhelmed healthcare workforce.

Weve been using VR for the past six years, treating more than 6,000 patients with VR, and were constantly learning how to use VR for patient care, Spiegel said. Weve been focused on acute pain and managing chronic pain, and science isnt the barrier anymore, its about who will pay for this stuff, and whos the clinician in charge of all this.

Brydon pointed to the increasing success of VR as a tool to help provoke an emphatic response, particularly looking at formal and informal (family) care providers.

We found VR was able to leverage and provide resources to a lot of individuals who are really feeling the burden of caring for family members and friends, and the idea that we can build these skills is really valuable, she said.

Spiegel pointed to use cases for VR that include therapeutic opportunities for chronic pain, cognitive behavioral therapy and mental health, particularly for those in rural areas who may not have easy access to physical healthcare and trained physicians.

We can bring that therapy into someones home, and every day they can have a session with the equivalent of a pain psychologist but in a VR headset, he said.

Brydon noted that a major benefit of VR-based care, be it therapeutic or otherwise, is that it allows you to access it wherever you are a benefit not limited to rural areas.

If youre at work or at home, it provides you with that access, she noted. Were at a point where people have access to phones, and if we can go through those channels, as things get better, faster and smaller, we can do more in that small space, and have that VR bedside or wherever you happen to be. That goes for patients as well as providers.

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Virtual reality offers new opportunities for care and empathy - Healthcare IT News

The nuclear industry is embracing virtual reality technology to optimise its operations and improve safety, as a recent white paper from Tecknotrove Systems explains.

While nuclear power plants are usually very safe and secure, they remain prone to severe accidents or production losses due to human errors. Virtual reality (VR) makes it possible to create realistic and immersive training environments relating to nuclear power plants to train operators on how to perform the tasks safely. VR training allows operators to practice various situations - such as emergency evacuation, plant operation, fuel handling, leaks and fires - in a virtual site. As the simulated environments feel extremely realistic, it creates a highly immersive experience to teach the right response in difficult situations.

Periodic inspection and maintenance of a turbine generator are very important. However, conducting hands-on training in maintenance of the turbines and engines in a nuclear plant can be a challenge, thanks to the time it takes, the risks and the costs involved. VR makes it possible to train for the maintenance engineers in a more engaging and safer manner without the hassles of finding the actual equipment to use during training. From assembly to dismantling of turbines, through repair, a virtual environment helps technicians to go through various steps of training and see all the parts working together before they do it in a real plant.

Training operators to handle crucial functions in the control room of a nuclear plant is critical. VR has proved to be an effective and efficient training tool.

In order to enhance users' understanding of nuclear reactor principles, a virtual reality system based on a simulator can be developed to interface with the scenarios in nuclear power plants. With VR, a nuclear plant can provide an immersive training experience to its operators without affecting the safety of the power plant. Using VR, owners can simulate everything from basic operations to emergency situations, with real-life stress factors to make the training very realistic.

Entry to a nuclear power plant is restricted and not often open to young engineers or visitors. VR allows engineers to perform the activities within the plant, freely navigating it to develop a better understanding of the orientation of the plant without compromising safety.

Virtual tours of nuclear power plants allow visitors to experience the control room, dive down to the reactor, or head to the turbine hall and switch yard.

Providing training for decommissioning nuclear power plants is a lengthy process. VR gives a sense of what it is like inside the reactors in reality. It is serving a critical role in training teams to decommission the reactors. VR training can help nuclear power plant workers at decommissioning sites by familiarising them with the relevant steps in a safe and controlled environment. Training set up in highly realistic environments can help prevent accidents. Using VR for decommissioning training is also cost-effective, since operators need disposable protective gear for physical training, which can be extremely expensive. In some countries, decommissioning authorities have also started using VR-powered decommissioning solutions, as robots can work faster and they are unaffected by continuous exposure to radioactive elements.

It is necessary to train the operation and maintenance crews for fuel handling systems in a nuclear power plant. Safe handling of fuel assemblies is important to ensure smooth functioning. However, the configuration of the fuel channels is complex, and training the engineers in real life can be tricky. Through computer simulations, VR provides a safe and highly realistic environment where they can learn about handling fuel without exposing themselves to radiation or compromising the structural integrity of the reactor.

Preparing for accidents and emergencies that may occur at a nuclear power plant is a necessity. Laws in each country require nuclear operating companies to develop and maintain emergency preparedness plans for their nuclear power plants to protect the public. However, planning and managing such training can take up a considerable amount of time and resources. This is where training in a simulated environment is important. Emergency situations - loss of electric supply, failure of emergency generators, failure of cooling system or leaks - can be recreated in a virtual environment for training and testing purposes. Virtual environments allow users to test the correct operation of the devices, tools and procedures that would be employed in different emergency situations, and it helps to maintain the level of preparedness of the staff that would be involved with these emergencies.

Additionally, VR makes it possible to test the response time and the communication and decision-making skills of the teams in emergency situations that could not be created in real life.

Most of the nuclear industry still primarily uses traditional training methods - computer based training, with limited sessions of on-site training. As a result, the engineers are not always certain about what needs to be done in real life or in an actual environment.

VR enables creation and simulation of virtual worlds. These worlds immerse trainees in the virtual environment as if it were an actual nuclear power plant. In a VR environment, trainees can move around the plant under complete safety. VR controllers allow the trainee to interact with virtual control panels, turbines and fuels in the virtual world, which is not possible in real-life training. VR training thus results in higher reproducibility and safety.

It is also cost-effective, since multiple sessions can be conducted at relatively low cost . Studies have shown that VR-enabled training has improved the overall responsiveness of those working at nuclear plants.

The best thing about VR is that it enables real-time collaboration and creates an accurate immersive environment. For assembly, operations, maintenance and decommissioning of nuclear power plants training through VR can be used at all stages at a fraction of the cost of other options and in complete safety.

The nuclear industry can use VR training to increase efficiency and maximise operations. It is a safe way of training teams and attracting young workers to the industry.

Tecknotrove Systems one of Asias leading VR simulation companies offers customised solutions to nuclear power plants in areas of Radiation Safety, Environment Monitoring, Radiation Security, Air Monitoring and Emergency Management to solve the real challenges faced by the industry. Some of its existing clients include Department Of Atomic Energy, BARC, NPCIL to name a few.

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Virtual reality in the nuclear industry - Nuclear Engineering

Lady Gagas 911 video is getting the virtual reality experience from CEEK VR. The singer/songwriter is teaming with the virtual reality company to provide a behind-the-scenes look on the set of 911 as she celebrates her No. 1 album Chromatica a year after its release.

The short film accompanied the third single off the album, and directed by Tarsem Singh, with visuals eerily reminiscent of his earlier feature film, The Cell, starring Jennifer Lopez. She had seen the film, Singh tellsVariety.

Singh explains he and Gaga were discussing ideas for the video. Rather than replicate that exact visual, Singh says, I told her, I know you like that film but lets go the opposite direction. Lets put you in red, and have white sand dunes. So, we did that.

The video was shot in Valencia, Calif. Singh was adamant that white dunes be seen to make Gagas bold and vibrant colors stand out. The sand where they shot was brown, but he corrected that in post-production. The sand was brown and it didnt feel right because we wanted a sorbet feel. She needed to pop in those colors.

It begins with the Chromatica II transition showing Gaga covered in a blindfold, lying in a desert sandpit, with a man on horseback in the distance. Gaga wakes up and finds herself surrounded by strange imagery, included a woman who resembles Santa Muerte a Mexican deity personifying death to safely carry those to the afterlife. As the imagery gets stranger, the video delivers a twist. As it turns out, Gagas character is nearly killed in a car accident.

She will exhaust herself and give you everything you want, Singh said of the experience. Its full-on or fuck off. In shooting that twist, Singh had two cameras in place. I told the crew to not make a sound because I wanted to capture every sound she made. She went at it and had a solid meltdown and we had that in one take. I told her to trust me. We got it and that was that.

When the video for the single was released, Gaga said, This short film is very personal to me, my experience with mental health and the way reality and dreams can interconnect to form heroes within us and all around us.

Of the new 360 VR experience, Singh says he hopes people embrace the technology displayed in this behind-the-scenes experience of 911.

The 360 VR experience will be exclusively available onwww.ceek.com and on the CEEK VR App, which is available for download on iOS, Android, Facebook Oculus, HTC, etc. It can also be viewed through CEEKs mobile Virtual Reality headset.

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Lady Gagas 911 Gets the Virtual Reality Experience, as Director Tarsem Singh Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Details - Variety

The global virtual reality and augmented reality in retail market is expected to grow from US$ 3790. 94 million in 2021 to US$ 17864. 86 million by 2028; it is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 24. 8% during 20212028.

New York, Aug. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in Retail Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Type and Application" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06128442/?utm_source=GNW

Brands use virtual and augmented reality technology to promote themselves and their products in virtual reality marketing.The technology generates a fictitious yet realistic setting.

Depending on the device, virtual reality marketing might be visual or multi-sensory.A full virtual reality headset provides a fully immersive experience, whereas a virtual reality Instagram filter only overlays objects or photographs onto the camera view.

Augmented reality (AR) marketing is what these filters are.AR is a type of virtual reality in which a virtual image is superimposed on the real environment.

The most prevalent sort of virtual reality marketing is augmented reality marketing. For many businesses, it is more practical and less expensive than developing a headset experience. Consumers will find augmented reality more accessible because it only requires a phone or desktop app. For example, with its Virtual Artist app, Sephora was one of the first to adopt augmented reality marketing. Virtual reality marketing is also a fun approach to get the word out about new products. Guccis app now has an augmented reality element to advertise its new Ace footwear range. Users can aim the camera at their feet to view how various sneaker styles would look on them. They can see the shoes from a variety of angles, owing to the technologys movement tracking abilities. Similarly, Instagram recently teamed up with Spark AR to launch a new feature that allows users to design their own AR filters. Words or images are superimposed on top of the actual image in the camera view by the filters. This is being used by brands to make filters that display their logo or other branded image. For example, Coca-Cola Poland designed one that practically places its polar bear mascot in the room with the viewer. Thus, the high adoption of AR and VR technologies by brands for marketing purpose is expected to contribute to the growth of the market.

The virtual reality and augmented reality in retail market is segmented based on type, application, and geography.Based on type, the market is categorized into AR and VR.

The AR segment represented a larger share of the overall market in 2020.Based on application, the virtual reality and augmented reality in retail market is segmented into online retail and offline retail.

In 2020, the online retail segment accounted for the substantial share of the market.Geographically, the market is broadly segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), the Middle East & Africa (MEA), and South America (SAM).

In 2020, North America accounted for the significant share in the global market.

With the COVID-19 pandemic spreading across the US, all industries have been severely impacted.As a result, any impact on industry has a direct impact on the regions economic growth.

The unusual spike in COVID-19 cases in the US, as well as the accompanying lockdown to battle the viruss spread across the country in the first two quarters of 2020, has prompted many businesses to prepare for the worst.In 2020, technological investments experienced a dip, owing to the above-mentioned reasons.

However, the retail industry has been adopting technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality much before the pandemic.

According to IBMs 2020 US Retail Index report, the pandemic has expedited the shift to digital purchasing by about five years.Virtual "try-before-you-buy" experiences ranging from previewing furniture and house products of brands such as IKEA and Home Depot to digitally trying on luxury fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci.

Similarly, GLAMlabs Ultas virtual try-on beauty tool, which was established four years ago, has seen an increase in utilization during the pandemic.In addition, when jewelry manufacturer Kendra Scotts stores were temporarily closed, the company implemented an augmented reality application that let buyers to visually try on numerous earring styles from the comfort of their own homes.

Thus, rise in adoption of AR by customers and increase in investment in the technology by retailers during the pandemic have positively impacted the growth of the market across the region.

The overall virtual reality and augmented reality in retail market size has been derived using both primary and secondary sources.To begin the research process, exhaustive secondary research has been conducted using internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the market.

The process also serves the purpose of obtaining an overview and forecast for the virtual reality and augmented reality in retail market with respect to all the segments.It also provides the overview and forecast for the market based on all the segmentation provided with respect to five major regionsNorth America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and South America.

Also, primary interviews were conducted with industry participants and commentators to validate data and gain more analytical insights into the topic. The participants of this process include industry experts such as VPs, business development managers, market intelligence managers, and national sales managers, along with external consultants such as valuation experts, research analysts, and key opinion leaders, specializing in the virtual reality and augmented reality in retail market.

The key companies operating in the virtual reality and augmented reality in retail market include Epson America, Inc.; Marxent; Google LLC; Infosys Ltd; Intel Corporation; Microsoft Corporation; PTC Inc.; Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.; Retail VR; and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06128442/?utm_source=GNW

About ReportlinkerReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

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Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in Retail Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Type and Application - Yahoo Finance

Virtual Reality brings the past to life at Magnolia House

Posted on August 9, 2021 Tags: computer science, history, interior architecture, museum studies, research, virtual reality

The UNCG team of designers and computer scientists watch as Melissa Knapp 20 tours the historic hotel in virtual reality.

Combining design, history, and computer science, UNC Greensboro is bringing a piece of important local history to life.

Members of UNCGs Interior Architecture and Computer Science departments recently teamed up to create a virtual reality (VR) tour of the historic Magnolia House as it would have appeared in the 1950s.

The Magnolia House, located near downtown Greensboro, is a segregation-era hotel that housed such notable African American travelers as Ike and Tina Turner, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, James Baldwin, and Gladys Knight. The inn was featured for years in the Negro Motorist Green Book, meaning it was a safe place for Black American travelers to lay their heads or grab a meal during the danger and uncertainty of the Jim Crow era.

Now through the use of Oculus Quest 2 headsets visitors can be transported to this notable era in the Magnolia Houses history, when it was both a refuge and bustling hub for Black entertainers, authors, and civil rights activists.

Walking around the hotel, you observe the mid-century modern furniture and dcor. Jazz music plays from a room upstairs, its volume changing as you move closer or farther away. You peer off the porch at the Greensboro countryside, which looks quite different from the downtown neighborhood that surrounds the hotel today.

VR is a great medium to communicate in a way that wasnt possible before, to educate and bring awareness to historical time periods, said Dr. Regis Kopper, a computer science professor and one the projects supervisors.

Funded by a Catalyzing Creativity grant from the City of Greensboro, the project took three months to complete and more than 200 hours of work largely from undergraduate students.

Interior Architecture student Hannah Tripp worked with faculty mentor, Dr. Asha Kutty, to create the designs, measuring the inn on site and drawing an architectural model using the 3D design software SketchUp. No historical photos of the Magnolia House could be found, so they turned instead to design books and magazines featuring mid-century modern furniture, lighting, and interiors to create historically accurate models as well as a walkthrough using Enscape (video below).

The designers then worked with computer science student Kadir Lofca and his faculty mentor, Kopper, to transform the designs into the VR experience.

Kopper, whose research focuses on virtual reality, says the power of this medium comes from its immersive quality.

There is research to support that VR promotes a more visceral response, that it enables you to build more memories than through traditional means of learning because of the feeling of presence you get.

Kadir Lofca, Dr. Regis Kopper, Hannah Tripp, Dr. Asha Kutty, and Melissa Knapp 20

Guiding the UNCG team along the way was Melissa Knapp 20, the Magnolia Houses historic site manager and curator as well as an alumna of the UNCG masters in history with a concentration in museum studies.

Knapp has already used the VR tour to help educate a group of Dudley High School students about the hotels storied past. The VR tour will continue to be used with future field trips and educational programming.

Guests will soon be able to stay in the Tina Turner room at the renovated Magnolia House

And excitingly the VR tour will soon be an optional experience for guests staying overnight.

Interior renovations to the Magnolia House are fully underway, with plans to open as a bed and breakfast once again in fall 2021. The building has not functioned in this capacity since the 1960s, when civil rights and the end of segregation made Green Book sites less relevant.

Though the newly designed Magnolia House will have a fresh, modernized feel, it will still draw heavily from its historic roots. Rooms will be thematically designed around the hotels famous visitors so guests will soon be able to stay in the Tina Turner Suite, for instance. Knapp also hopes, with future funding, to add more augmented reality experiences to the tour, enabling guests to interact with the Magnolia Houses famous historic figures in the realm of virtual reality.

This is not UNCGs first time bringing awareness to the history of the Magnolia House, nor will it be the last. New projects between the historic inn and UNCG are already in the works.

Partnering with UNCG always brings a lot of creativity and new directions, said Knapp. You wouldnt immediately see the connections between interior architecture, computer science, and history, but theres great value in looking at things from different, interdisciplinary perspectives.

Story by Elizabeth Keri, College of Arts & SciencesPhotography by Martin W. Kane, University Communications

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Virtual Reality brings the past to life at Magnolia House - UNCG Now

Lady Gaga takes viewers behind the scenes during the filming of her surreal video for Chromatica song 911 in a new virtual reality experience via the CEEK VR app. The release closely coincides with the one-year anniversary of Chromatica, which arrived in May 2020.

The 360-degree CEEK VR experience was captured on set during the filming of the Tarsem Singh-directed short film. The stylish, fever dream-like visual finds the pop star waking up in a desert and heading to a town where she stars in a series of vignettes featuring oddball characters. Things are not what they seem in the end as she later comes to after a bad accident and encounters the same characters in a different light.

A preview of the virtual reality experience highlights various scenes from the set, with Gaga and a couple of the other cast members appearing in elaborate, colorful costumes.

Last week, Gaga teamed up with Tony Bennett for a pair of performances at New Yorks Radio City Music Hall. The duo also shared the video for their cover of the Cole Porter standard I Get a Kick Out of You. The song will appear on their Porter covers album, Love for Sale, which arrives on October 1st.

Originally posted here:

Lady Gaga Goes Behind the Scenes of 911 in New Virtual Reality Video - Rolling Stone

How closely does the packaging of Toffee Crisp resemble Reese's peanut butter cups?

Too close, according to Hershey. In 2014, the chocolate manufacturer, which owns the Reese's brand, filed a trademark lawsuit against an American candy company that was importing Toffee Crisp from the UK, arguing that it had no right to sell Toffee Crisp in the U.S. because the product's black and orange packaging looked too much like Reese's.

How can courts resolve these types of ambiguous questions? One way is for courts to seek insight from a hypothetical character: the "reasonable person." Since the 19th century, the reasonable person has served as a standard for how an ordinary adult can be expected to act in situations disputed in civil and criminal courts, ranging from cases involving negligence and crime to free speech and intellectual property. Black's Law Dictionary defines the term as "an ordinary person who exercises care while avoiding extremes of boldness and carefulness."

It is a murky definition whose application is subjective. In trademark law, determining whether a logo is too similar to another often comes down to Justice Potter Stewart's iconic expression, "I know it when I see it." And more broadly, the reasonable person standard has been criticized as being vulnerable to judges' and jurors' explicit and implicit biases.

A new paper published on the preprint server SSRN proposes that brain imaging technologies can bring more objectivity to the reasonable person standard, starting with trademark law.

Trademark law is uniquely suited for neuroimaging because it centers on questions over visual similarity. That is partly because the brain constructs mental representations of visual information in a relatively clearly defined way; for example, showing people an image of the Nike logo several times almost surely will generate more consistent brain activity than having them repeatedly imagine, say, a hypothetical crime.

The researchers noted:

"...there is broad consensus on the construct validity and neuroanatomical substrates of different visual processes. Substantial evidence from both lesion and neuroimaging studies indicates that regions within the fusiform and inferotemporal cortices [brain regions associated with face and object recognition] engage in holistic, as opposed to parts-based, representation of objects."

The researchers aimed to construct a reliable index of visual similarity a scale that uses neural responses to rank how closely a set of products resembles the product in question, called the "reference product." Under fMRI, the participants viewed a rapid presentation of product images: the reference product, four fake products, and four real products with varying degrees of visual similarity.

To reliably measure visual similarity, the researchers used a technique called fMRI repetition suppression, which exploits the fact that our neural response to a stimulus declines upon repeated exposure.

"Critically for our current purposes, substantial evidence indicates that the relative suppression between two distinct stimuli can be used to assess the degree of overlap in neural representations of these stimuli," the researchers wrote. "Thus, by repeatedly presenting the likeness of different products, we can construct an index of visual similarity using neural responses from object sensitive regions of the visual system identified a priori."

To ensure that other factors did not confound the results, the study was designed such that the participants did not know the goal of the study as they underwent fMRI. After the fMRI scan, the participants were asked to rate the visual similarity of the nine products to the reference products. The fMRI results strongly correlated with the subjective ratings.

The second part of the study was conducted to measure bias within subjective surveys of visual similarity. The researchers asked 870 people to complete an online survey in which they rated the visual similarity of the ten products used in the first experiment. The respondents were shown one of three surveys. One used wording that favored a hypothetical plaintiff, referring to trademark infringing products as "copycats." Another was worded in favor of the defendant. The third was designed neutrally.

The fMRI data correlated strongly with the responses from the neutral survey, "suggesting that the neural similarity index is indeed capable of distinguishing between surveys containing different amounts of bias," the researchers wrote.

Still, the study had some limitations in terms of its applicability to the legal system. For one, the approach cannot objectively show that one product is "too similar" to another; it can only offer degrees of similarity. Another is generalizability. The researchers noted that they do not claim or anticipate that this method will have useful applications outside of intellectual property law.

Neuroimaging methods are unlikely to replace other forms of evidence used in courts, namely surveys. More likely, they will provide supplementary evidence. But the approach could be developed into a tool that can detect bias and boost confidence in surveys, a form of legal evidence that's unique for its ability to gauge public opinion on a large scale.

"Although of course still highly imperfect and incomplete, even the small step we take here constitutes a productive and meaningful advance, given the ubiquity of, and acknowledged flaws in, the reasonable person test," the researchers concluded.

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The metaverse: From science fiction to virtual reality - Big Think